Management Watch

Survey: Despite lukewarm economy, IT pros are feeling pretty hot

Despite recent reports of an influx of jobs in the technology sector, a new survey shows that some IT professionals are feeling pretty bleak about the overall economy and employment prospects but more confident about their own abilities.

The IT Employee Confidence Index, which measures overall confidence among U.S. technology workers, showed a decline from 56.2 to 47.3 in the third quarter of 2011, according to the recent research commissioned by Technisource. More than 3,800 U.S. adults, among which 257 were IT professionals, were polled for the survey.

Only 13 percent of the surveyed IT professionals said they believe the economy is improving. More than half of those polled said they believe there are fewer IT jobs now than compared to last quarter, with only 11 percent being confident that more jobs are available. And when it comes to new opportunities, less than half said they felt confident they can find a new job, down four percentage points from the previous quarter

While IT professionals expressed certain pessimism about the economy and job growth, they remained optimistic about their own abilities, according to the survey. Sixty-one percent of IT workers said they felt confident in the future of their current employer, down slightly from 70 percent last quarter. Slightly less than one-third of the surveyed IT professionals said they are likely to look for new jobs while in their current position.

Now, this survey polled those in the private sector but do you readers think government IT workers feel the same? As a federal employee, do you feel confident that you could find a new job within the IT sector (within a reasonable time, that is)? Are you eyeing new opportunities? And do you believe you have a future with your current employer? Please share in the comments below.

OPM is partnering with CSID to try to manage the fallout from a massive breach of some 4 million federal personnel records.

Reader comments

Thu, Oct 27, 2011

Most Federal jobs are under scrutiny per congress needing to reduce spending. In my agency there is an actual hiring freeze in place. This in in anticipation of losing funding for several large programs and potential need to try to reassign some of the affected staff. Some will lose their jobs in a time when finding a job is already difficult. I stongly doubt that the demand for IT in the private sector is high enough to allow IT worker over 50 to get new jobs. Not looking yet...

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